124 SURGICAL THERAPEUTICS. 



times act as meclianical bandages. But the name is more par- 

 ticularly applicable to certain more or less complicated apparatus- 

 es, whose special mechanical action has the effect of producing 

 some defined therapeutical result. The metallic plate used in the 

 reduction of some forms of hernia; the metallic spring apparatus 

 used in applying pressure upon special regions, as, in orthopedic 

 surgery, or in the reduction of fractures or dislocations, lite those 

 invented by Bourgelat, Brogniez, Defays, and others, are of this 

 class, inasmuch as all of these possess the constituent properties 

 which are understood to characterize the agencies belonging to 

 the category of mechanical bandages. 



These will be subjects for our consideration when we treat of 

 the various conditions in which they are indicated. 



